On a recent visit to the top of the mast to drop a runner to feed in a new jib halyard, I noticed that the two sheaves on the forward side of the mast were seized or nearly so. I couldn't be sure of the material - plastic or aluminum. After a bad experience once before when I greased a plastic spacer in a winch, that then swelled and became hard to turn, I am very cautious now about what I lubricate and how, so I didn't yet apply any oil to the sheaves. Can anyone tell me what is the material of these two sheaves?
John Gardner
John, most likely plastic with bushings. Catalina Direct (obvious website name, no space) has replacement sheaves, as does, I think, Garhauer, plus CY.
John : The mast head sheaves are plastic with an Al bushung.
I wrote a Mainsheet article about 10 years back about removing the mast, the mast head and replacing those old sheaves with ball bearing sheaves from Garhauer marine. A thought
Thank you. John